Croup
experiences please.

Last night my 4 year old had a very sudden, very severe case of croup. He was 100% well at bedtime and when I checked on him at 10pm. It was a warm night. At 10.30pm he woke with a couple of sharp barking coughs and great difficulty breathing. He had a loud stridor on the in and out breaths and retractions when trying to breathe. Steam didn't help nor did going outside. We called an ambulance and when they arrived after 30 minutes he was given adrenalin by nebuliser and oxygen and taken to hospital. His breathing improved and he was monitored for 4 hours and then allowed to come home.

We have a dose of redipred to give him this evening but I am so scared of it happening again tonight. It was so scary.

If you have experience with this I would really appreciate hearing from you. In particular, I wonder if your kids are prone to croup, what can you do when you are on holidays, going on a plane etc where you may not be able to get quick emergency medical treatment? We are going on holidays soon, not anywhere terribly remote but also probably not somewhere where we'll get a quick response from an ambulance and I'm a bit worried. I know some people are given redipred in powder form to make up but I am not sure that would have helped us last night as it was so sudden and severe.

My older son had croup a few times but it was never this bad and responded to steam etc. Also we had some warning with him, some coughing etc.

MY DS10 had it last year and ended up in hospital overnight. He's had it before when he was a baby but nothing since then.

If it happened on holiday I would just take him straight to the ER for some steroids. If it's on a plane and it's life-threatening then the plane will divert and land as they would do for anything that needed emergency treatment.

My 4 year old developed croup last week too. We did not have any medicine in the night so took him into the bathroom and ran a hot shower. The steam seemed to help him breath easier. I put the steamer on in his room too, not sure that did much. I also gave him Nurofen, which stopped the pain in his throat and that calmed him down and I am sure helped stop the coughing.

The next day went to the dr and got Redipred, it worked a treat and in to days after two doses the croup has gone.

It is very scary. Both my girls have had croup but we did manage them at home so maybe it wasn't as bad as your DS.We had redipred prescribed for 3 nights after the first attack. We were told to give it before bed to help keep the airways open. They still coughed but didnt struggle to breath with that. I have used this a few times and have always found it helped if given before bedtime around 8 pm. If its too early it didn't last all night.In the middle of an attack I can't give it as my girls vomit. I know redipred lasts 28 days so you could take some with you on holidays. We are on holidays and it has worried me but a hospital is not too far.I hope he is ok tonight

DS (3) has had croup twice this year. First time sounds a bit like the experience you had, it was very scary seeing him struggle to breath. It was pretty bad for about 2 nights and then eased off. We found taking him out side at night helped a bit. We also had him in the bed with us so that when he woke we could reassure him before he got to distressed for the cough. We ended up at emergency and were given prednisone for him.

This time we realized what it was much quicker (last time it started as a normal cough and gave cough medicine, shouldn't give it) and got to the drs. Again given prednisone and also Bricanyl. This time around the croup cough has cleared up much quicker, so not sure if it is due to the addition of Bricanyl or just a milder case of croup.

If you are going away I would take a supply with you to be on the safe side.

My kids both get croup periodically, but have never had a severe enough episode to require an ambulance (touch wood).

We always have a spare bottle of redipred in the house. The bottle has more than enough for the number of doses you'd give them in one go (ie say 3 doses over 3 days - there will still be leftovers in the bottle, I'd expect). So I just save it.

It works quickly for DD1, but part of that is a placebo effect. I've tried just panadol (in a mild situation) and that also helps her to stop the coughing. Part of the deal with croup is that the more stressed and upset the child is, the harder it is for them to breathe. My GP told me that the time it takes for redipred to really work is about 3 hours, though some effect would be faster than that.

Part of the deal with croup is that the more stressed and upset the child is, the harder it is for them to breathe. My GP told me that the time it takes for redipred to really work is about 3 hours, though some effect would be faster than that.

Yes, this is why we couldn't drive him to the ED. Only one of us could have gone and so he would have been in the back on his own, strapped in a car seat. He was doubling over to get breath at times so this would have distressed him a lot. The only thing that kept him calm was me holding him and telling him stories and talking about how he would be ok soon etc.

I wonder if adrenalin is something that is dispensed for home use. I suspect not but he certainly needed it last night.

Isolabella -

QUOTE

We have done many ED trips over the years. Last week though my 5yo started up at 5am. Major difficulties breathing more then the cough. Thankfully new game on ipad served as a diversion

Yes DS2 also didn't have a cough really, just the trouble breathing. Do you mean the game worked as a distraction long enough for it to resolve? I was so scared because DS2's seemed to be getting worse and I felt like his airways were almost closed. There was no distracting him although we did manage to keep him calm.

I remember reading about a little boy in a plane coming into Sydney a couple of years ago who sadly died from croup before they could land and get him to hospital.

we give redipred in the morning as it makes them hypo and it also takes a while to be useful. We also elevate the bed and use ventolin at least 4 times a day for at least 3 days after the onset of the croup. My DS gets it often and too the point that he vomits and he is the same goes to bed fine and then bang wakes up with croup.

Sometimes we also have him sleep with us as the extra warmth helps. Also his last attack was quite bad and could not settle him even after a shower so he slept on me while I was sitting upright until he was relaxed and then i moved him and he slept all night without issues.

Adrenaline is not available as a home medication. It is used by the ambulance service and inthe ED and ICU. Any patient who has had a dose of adrenaline needs cardiac monitoring and very close watching for at least 4 hours as a rebnound effect can happen.

My two year old has had repeated bouts of croup. He must be prone to it because we have had to call an ambulance at least three times.

There is definite stridor when breathing. His lips start to turn blue. Its the most terrifying thing. Especially when I put him to bed seemingly healthy.

The doctors in the ED have told me that I need to call an ambulance ASAP when he has these croup attacks. He then gets adrenalin in the nebuliser and at hospital they give him prednisone.

We are going to Tasmania tomorrow for two weeks and we are taking some redipred. It does take six hours to work however so you have to be really on the look out for coughing or wheezing before bed time. Hopefully we will always be within easy reach of an ambulance.

I was also told not to muck around with showers and steam as it is most likely life threatening for my little one.

Hoping he grows out of it soon as my daughter was similar and her last attack was at age 3.

We had a situation very similar to yours with our 4 year old and croup. Was a particularly cold March morning and we watched as he struggled to breathe and turned blue before our eyes in our lounge room. We literally bundled him into the car and drove 5 mins to our GP.

He had more croup episodes March - May and a few ER visits.

It is very frightening. I now have an asthma plan, 2 sets of his ventolin/spacer, an unopened bottle of redipred at home at all times, repeat presrciption for redipred. His bag of medication goes everywhere with us and his preschool have a set.

What worked for us - distraction, sitting upright, sleeping upright in our arms, sleeping with us during an episode, bedroom warmed on cool nights, elevated on 2 pillows, inside by 4pm during winter.

Hope he is ok tonight. I found giving the redipred before bed is the best way.If he coughs keep him calm with the tv or a book and see if he stops. I sometimes sing a few songs too.I have found this has kept us out of hospital. Although I would go to hospital if in doubt.Croup often only lasts 3 nights and then tapers off so you are near the end.

Thanks everyone. I forgot to check back in here. He is fine, we gave the redipred at night as directed and he slept fine. I went to the GP next day and got some more as he had been quite wheezy before the redipred so I wanted him to have another dose. Since then he's been fine.

It really was the most frightening thing. Especially since he had no cold or cough at all and it was a very warm, humid night.

QUOTE

We had a situation very similar to yours with our 4 year old and croup. Was a particularly cold March morning and we watched as he struggled to breathe and turned blue before our eyes in our lounge room. We literally bundled him into the car and drove 5 mins to our GP.

He had more croup episodes March - May and a few ER visits.

It is very frightening. I now have an asthma plan, 2 sets of his ventolin/spacer, an unopened bottle of redipred at home at all times, repeat presrciption for redipred. His bag of medication goes everywhere with us and his preschool have a set.

What worked for us - distraction, sitting upright, sleeping upright in our arms, sleeping with us during an episode, bedroom warmed on cool nights, elevated on 2 pillows, inside by 4pm during winter.

Does your DS have asthma as well? Ours has no signs of asthma so far. Also your 3 boys were born the same years as my 3 boys!

There is really no need to go straight to the ER though and can be managed at home (unless as severe as you decribed)

Please do not advise people not to go to the ER. Croup can come on fast and when my son last had it I was reprimanded by the resus nurse for driving him myself rather than calling an ambulance, she told me that minutes can count with severe croup. Redipred was not enough for him and adrenalin was needed to get him breathing again, then he required cardiac monitoring. It was terrifying.

I would rather take my child to ER or call an ambulance and find that it is not that severe than to treat at home and risk my child suffering immesurably and then possibly losing their life.

Redipred takes longer than 40 mins to work. I can't remember exactly, but agree with PP that it is several hours. We also travel with it. After checking with GP, I am comfortable in my ability to recognise it and I constantly have updated dosage amounts for my DS as he grows. Croup sucks.

You can get shelf stable pred. I always request that one fron the Drs after been caught on holidays without and DD ending up in intensive care. So much easier than worrying about keeping it cold on car trips etc.

In terms of how quickly it works I've been told you should see a difference 40mins - 4 hrs.

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